Category Archives: comedy

The Love of Jeanne Ney

4 Genuine and Superior Classic German Silent Films

4K Ultra HD, comedy, drama, historical, history, horror, ,
The Great Leap (1927)

Kino Classics released some extraordinary German classic films from the silent era during the 1920s. Each one is available on Blu-ray or DVD. Presented in restorations by F. W. Murnau-Stiftung, I found each movie stunning and mesmerizing.

The films restored are The Great Leap (1927), directed by Arnold Fanck and starring Leni Riefenstahl, Paul Wegener’s The Golem (1920), G. W. Pabst’s The Love of Jeanne Ney (1927), and F. W. Murnau’s Tartuffe (1925), starring Emil Jannings.

The Great Leap
The Great Leap (1927)

I first watched The Great Leap, which features an audio commentary by film historian Samm Deighan. The movie stars Leni Riefenstahl, who is infamous as the great documentarian of Hitler. Before all that, she was foremost an actress, and she is good in this movie. It’s super funny. Apparently, Riefenstahl was a popular actress who starred in several mountain movies directed by Arnold Fanck. They included The Holy Mountain (Der heilige Berg, 1926) and The White Hell of Pitz Palu (Die weisse Hölle vom Piz Palü, 1929) as dramas of romance and survival.

The Great Leap suggests was something different as a playful romantic comedy set high atop the Dolomites. Riefenstahl plays an Italian peasant whose simple life is upended when a series of urbanites invade the slopes for a ski vacation. This bubbly comedy (featuring Riefenstahl’s usual on-screen love interest, Luis Trenker) combines slapstick laughs with stunning footage of acrobatic skiing and rock climbing, making it perhaps the most entertaining but unique movie out of all the German mountain films.

The Golem (1920)

Then I watched The Golem that contains both a 4K restoration of the German release version with three musical scores by Stephen Horne, Admir Shkurtaj, and Lukasz “Wudec” Poleszak, including U.S. release version with music by Cordula Heth. A feature comes with a comparison between the German and U.S. versions, and audio commentary by film historian Tim Lucas.

Hypothetically acknowledged as the source of the Frankenstein myth, the ancient Hebrew legend of the Golem provided actor and director Paul Wegener with the substance for an intriguing and adventure movie. Suffering under the tyrannical rule of Rudolf II in 16th-century Prague, a Talmudic rabbi, played by Albert Steinruck, creates a giant warrior, played by Wegener to protect the safety of his people. When the rabbi’s assistant, played by Ernst Deutsch, takes control of the Golem and attempts to use him for selfish gain, the lumbering monster runs rampant, abducting the rabbi’s daughter, played by Lyda Salmonova, and setting fire to the ghetto. The special effects for this time are impressive, creating the creation sequence with a dazzling blend of religion, sorcery, and the grand-scale destruction toward the end of the movie. The Golem was apparently an outstanding achievement from the legendary UFA Studios and remains an undeniable landmark in the horror’s evolution film.

The Love of Jeanne Ney came next and presents both the restored German release version with music arranged and orchestrated by Bernd Thewes, and the U.S. release version with music by Andrew Earle Simpson. It includes audio commentary by film historian Eddy Von Mueller.

The Love of Jeanne Ney (1927)

An epic of the Weimar cinema (Cinema of Germany), The Love of Jeanne Ney follows a young French woman’s struggle for happiness amid the political turbulence and corruption of post-World War I Europe. Directed by G. W. Pabst, who also directed Diary of a Lost Girl, Pandora’s Box, the film blends a variety of cinematic approaches as it weaves its complex narrative of moral chaos and political upheaval. Consider the use of the “American Style,” evocative of the Hollywood studio blockbuster; the avant-garde techniques of Soviet montage; and the eerie moving camerawork and shadowy perspectives are typical of German Expressionism. The result is a stunning cinematic experiment that never failed to surprise me with fast sequences that end with an exhilarating conclusion.

Tartuffe (1925)

Tartuffe includes both the German release version with a new score by Robert Israel and the U.S. release version with music by Giuseppe Becce, adapted by Javier Perez de Azpeita.

Tartuffe (1925)

Considered one of the most gifted visual storytellers during the German silent era, F. W. Murnau crafted works of great subtlety and emotional complexity through his absolute command of the cinematic medium. Known for such dazzling films as Nosferatu (1922), The Last Laugh (1924), Faust (1926), and Sunrise (1927), Murnau draws toward more intimate dramas exploring the dark corners of the human mind.

I had a prime interest in seeing Tartuffe, where Murnau Moliére’s fable of religious hypocrisy to the screen. The story follows a faithful wife, played by Lil Dagover. She tries to convince her husband, played by Werner Krauss, that their morally superior guest, Tartuffe, played by Emil Jannings, is in fact a lecherous hypocrite with a taste for the grape. Twisting the story to heighten the contemporary relevance, Murnau frames Moliére’s tale with a modern-day plot concerning a housekeeper’s stealthy efforts to poison her elderly master and take control of his estate.


Watch Mister America

Campaign Obsession “Mister America” Focuses on Unusual Candidate

comedy, documentary, ,

First of all, the documentary is not one. It is called a mockumentary. Directed by Eric Notarnicola, who is passionate about cinema and documentary, the filming happened on location in the San Bernardino and the Los Angeles area. The production team used a mix of non-actors and actors, creating documentary techniques to fake the experience of an actual story unwinding in real-time. The actors improvised each situation, allowing their characters and the story to unfold naturally. The style worked. It was funny and kept me entertained throughout.

The story starts with Tim Heidecker in the final month of his campaign for district attorney. He is an underdog facing an uphill battle that evolves into a delusional, crazy study of Tim’s true motivations and controversial past, unraveling his candidacy.

The movie gets more interesting at this point because Tim has taken on the popular incumbent, Vincent Rosetti, also known in Tim’s mind as “Rosetti the Rat.” Rosetti found Tim and his inexperienced campaign manager, outmatched, low on funds, connections, and experience. Tim doesn’t even have enough signatures to run. He tries hitting the streets as a last-ditch effort to connect to the voters and promises to wipe out all the crime in San Bernardino, but with no avail, he doesn’t win over the community.

His campaign grows by word of mouth, and former friends of Tim warn the public with stories about bad business deals, strained friendships, and a failed court case in which he ended up accused of murder.

He is only days away from the election, and the campaign is free falling. He needs to confront the obvious of pursuing is a delusional dream. The clip below says it all about Tim and his unsuccessful pursuit for office.

Life, Career of Beloved Comedienne Gilda Radner

comedy, documentary, true story, , , , ,

Lisa D’Apolito directed the Love, Gilda documentary. The movie boasts “In her own words…” I am quick to differ. Like most documentaries today, the directors skewed them to generate a message based on the director’s proactive. Sure. The movie shows her journals with words, but the director takes them out of context. 

Tender with personal interviews while highlighting Radner’s talent, but the movie needed to share more of her happiness and successes. We are all human and have problems. The director skews the fact that when she visits the doctor, she is not responsible. But clearly, she is being responsible for going to the doctor. It is how she handles those problems that make her a survivor.  

In her journals, the director pulls out passages from comedienne Gilda Radner reflections on her life and career. Weaving together her recently discovered audiotapes and rare home movies, Love, Gilda shares a side of Radner that is honest and whimsical. Portions of her diary read by well-known comedians. Each inspired by Radner’s talent and vivaciousness, Bill Hader, Amy Poehler, Maya Rudolph, and Cecily Strong read in awe sharing her story.

The documentary includes interviews with original “Saturday Night Live” cast and crew, such as Chevy Chase, Laraine Newman, Paul Shaffer and longtime friend, Martin Short. Throughout the movie photos of the younger cast and crew are spliced within the story. With photos of the young cast, all looking healthy and vibrant is worth watching the documentary. 

Her adventures before SNL have her marrying a sculpture, moving to Canada, and divorcing. She meets her boyfriend and longtime friend, Martin Short.  She receives a phone call from John Belushi and tells her “We need a girl.” Off Radner goes to Chicago, being the token girl for Second City comedy group. The photographs show young Dan Aykroyd and the late Harold Ramis. 

Gilda Radner puts a smile on the faces of people who remember watching her as one of the original cast members of SNL where she created and portrayed now-classic comic characters such as Roseanne Roseannadanna, Emily Litella, and Lisa Loopner. She rose to fame winning an Emmy, starring in movies and on Broadway. 

Though the director uses Radner’s words and her voice by working with the Radner Estate, D’Apolito picks her favorites from a collection of diaries and personal audio and videotapes.  Documenting her childhood, her comedy career, her life with Gene Wilder and her struggle with cancer, the D’Apolito allows Radner to voice her story through laughter and tears. The never-before-seen footage and journal entries form the narrative spine of the documentary. Again, D’Apolito spins a tale of Radner trying to get Wilder to marry her. Yet, I distinctly recall, Wilder in interviews saying of how much he loved Radner and missed her so much after her death from cancer. Anyone who watches this documentary will see the love Wilder shared with Radner.

My favorite words from Radner, which I am paraphrasing, is how she mentions she just did what she loved to do, kept taking jobs, and ended up famous. 

Godard Mon Amour Brilliant Movie by Hazanavicisu

comedy, drama, , , ,

Directed by Michel Hazanavicius, who won the Best Picture Oscar for The Artist, which I totally recommend that you see The Artist if you haven’t seen it yet. It is brilliant.

With, that Hazanavicius brings us another brilliant movie called Godard Mon Amour. The movie is a true story of Jean-Luc Godard at a turning point in both his own groundbreaking career and in the art of cinema.

Just like the movie The Artist, which was set in the silent film era, Hazanavicius again tenderly transfers moviegoers back to a unique time and place in cinematic history. Known as France, in the late 1960s. We meet a Young actress Anne Wiazemsky, played by Stacy Martin, who achieved instant fame as the teenage star of Robert Bresson’s Au Hasard Balthazar. She finds herself juggling political protests and artistic challenges in her married life with Jean-Luc Godard, played by Louis Garrel.

Goddard, for those who don’t know who he is, is the fearless, innovative and significant director of Breathless, Band of Outsiders and Contempt. As Wiazemsky country undergoes enormous cultural change, so too does her dynamic with her husband, as the great director becomes absorbed in the political and cultural moment and less emotionally available to his wife.

Nominated for the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival and four César Awards, including Best Actor and Best Director, and co-starring Bérénice Bejo of The Artist, Godard Mon Amour is a global sensation – both as a tribute to a crucial moment in cinema history and as the resounding artistic triumph in its own right.

Ed Potton of The Times of London said Godard Mon Amour “manages to be a biopic, postmodern comedy, stylistic homage and poignant relationship study all at once.”

“Garrel is wonderfully dead-on as the director,” said Chris Nashawaty of Entertainment Weekly, adding, “Martin manages to convey some of the heartaches in watching the man you love turn sour.”

Donald Clarke of The Irish Times called the film “occasionally disrespectful and hugely amusing … It’s carried off with an irreverence that would delight Mel Brooks.”

Such a wonder of just about two hours spent enjoying filmmaking and filmmaker Goddard, I hope you get a chance to see Godard Mon Amour because it is a great movie for any movie aficionado.

Don’t Think Twice

comedy, movies, , , , ,

Directed Mike Birbiglia, Don’t Think Twice follows a member of a popular New York City improv troupe catches the big break forcing the group to reevaluate their success and confront their fears in the hilariously honest movie.

This is a bittersweet movie about the behind-the-scenes look at the lives of six best friend comedians. If you have ever been with an improv group, like I have, you will find this to be one of your favorite films to watch with friends of the same persuasion. It is a funny movie about the angst of chasing aspirations.

I recommend taking a look at the behind-the-scenes featurettes. They add to the hilarity of the movie with a concept of what it takes to bring this whole movie to life. A movie about a six-person comedy team known as The Commune, working together for 11 years, has killed it onstage while waiting for their big break. Without warning, the team finds itself at a crossroads when one of the members becomes a solo success and the rest of the group realizes they may not make it big after all.

The featurette selection also includes Don’t Think Twice: The Art of Improv. It is a brilliant and enlightening piece about the love of improv, which is the heart of the movie. In this featurette, you will be able to explore the philosophy that inspired the world and comedy found within the movie.

My first thought, that is an entertainer’s nightmare. Success is great, but when other members are left out, it can feel like a long drop into the abyss of being no one.

The movie talented, funny and honest cast includes Keegan-Michael, Gillian Jacobs, Mike Birbiglia, Kate Micucci, Chris Gethard, and Tami Sagher.

 

 

 

The Great Gilly Hopkins

book, children, comedy, drama, family, , , , ,

Directed by Stephen Herek, The Great Gilly Hopkins, is an inspiring film the whole family can enjoy. A true classic story that will capture anyone’s heart. The cast alone is worth renting or buying the movie including Kathy Bates, Octavia Spencer, Glenn Close. These talented women bring so much life to the classic young-adult novel by Katherine Paterson, who also wrote Bridge to Terabithia.

This great tale won the Truly Moving Picture award at the 2016 Heartland Film Festival. The story is about real, emotional, funny and captivating scenes featuring Sophie Nélisse, who was unforgettable in The Book Thief.  She brings her same talent to this adorable movie, which also stars Julia Stiles, who plays Gilly’s mother.

The story follows Gilly as a coming-of-age story about one girl discovering what a family really can be. We met the feisty and headstrong Gilly Hopkins where she has made a name for herself in the foster system. She outwits family after family in hopes of being reunited with her birth mother.

In a comical effort to escape her newest home and overly affectionate foster mother, Mamie Trotter, played by Bates, the young girl devises a scheme she believes will send her mother running to the rescue. When her grand plan backfires, Gilly realizes she may have been wrong about everything in her search to find where she belongs.

The movie brings up questions like “What is a family?” “What is family love?”

I was touch by this film because it holds life lessons with an impressive cast from a charmingly written novel. It all comes to life with a perfect mix of characters. I laughed, cried, and loved it.

Snoopy, Come Home

animals, animation, children, comedy, family, legend, , ,

snoopycmehomI visited the Schulz museum in Santa Rosa, California for my daughter’s sake, thinking I would be bored out of my head. Boy, was I wrong, I discovered Charles Schulz, the genius who created a series of Peanuts comic strips that voiced the current social conflicts of the time and still today. Women rights, pray in schools, draft, and war. Growing up, I did read the comic strip without realizing he was bringing up social issues. As a young girl, I marveled at the expressions and characters of each personality. I watched the television specials with my family falling in love with Snoopy.

Watching Snoopy, Come Home brought memories back during the nights I’d watch the Peanuts specials with my family. I am still in love with Snoopy because he is so innocent yet creative. In this Peanuts movie, the story is quite good. It begins with him running off to visit Lila, his original owner, who is in the hospital. Woodstock goes with him, but they are captured by a rather overbearing girl who demands Snoopy and Woodstock be her pets.

Being clever the two escape, which includes some very funny and misplaced steps of amusement. Back at Charlie Brown’s home, he is concerned with finding out about Lila. Who is she? I will not share the ending of the movie, but I will tell you that it is so much fun to watch Snoopy get into many mishaps as he tries to sneak into places where dogs are not allowed.

The movie is tried and true, and now released on Blu-ray. The new format adds more of a sparkle with a widescreen format. Keep in mind parents, that the going away party for Snoopy might be a tearjerker for the kids or trouble understanding why people are so sad at a party. Still, the humor is fun to watch and offers great laughs.

In-Lawfully Yours

comedy, family, movies, romance, , , ,

front-artIn-Lawfully Yours, directed by Robert Kirbyson, is a Christian faith movie where the discovery of the joys of falling in love in unexpected places makes it an enchanting romantic comedy. The sweet and wholesome movie features talented, funny and seasoned actors like Chelsey Crisp, Marilu Henner, Corbin Bernsen, Phillip Boyd and Joe Williamson. The Dove Foundation has granted the film a 4 out of 5 rating and a faith-friendly seal for ages 12 and older.

The story follows Jesse, played by Crisp, who is a New York City girl. She knows how to be fun in a heartfelt way. You just like her, right way. And you feel for her when she finds out her husband Chaz, played honestly by Boyd, cheats on her and eventually divorces her. Still, Jesse stands by her widowed mother-in-law, Naomi played by Henner and graciously helps her pack up her home in small-town Bethel Cove.

This is where Crip’s acting talent shines. She plays Jesse as a big city girl with candid wit. Yet, the small town clashes with her eccentric questions about religion and offbeat behavior around the local community, including the town pastor Ben, played by Williamson. Ben also happens to be her ex-husband’s brother-in-law.

As the story unfolds, Ben and Jesse discover what they are both looking for — each other. But when they make their relationship public, Jesse’s ex-husband rallies the community against her and gets Ben fired from the church.  Jesse leaves Bethel Cove to bring peace to Ben’s situation and to hopefully find a place where she truly belongs, in spite of the fact that she can’t stop thinking about Ben.

The ending is really great and fun to watch, but I will not tell you what happens. You have to see for yourself, but it is worth watching.

Much of the filming of the movie took place on and around Regent’s Virginia Beach with nearly 80 graduate and undergraduate students working on the film. The DVD includes special behind-the-scenes features, highlighting the student filmmakers who helped bring this really fun movie to watch to the screen.

Dirty Grandpa

comedy, movies, , , , , , , ,

TWF_BD_3DSkew copyI didn’t laugh out loud while watching the unrated version of Dirty Grandpa starring Oscar winner Robert De Niro and Zac Efron. Directed by Dan Mazer, the two characters played by De Niro and Efron take a spring break and go on the road. I viewed the Blu-ray version, which is supposed to be much dirtier than the other versions.  The movie also stars Aubrey Plaza, Zoey Deutch, Julianne Hough, Jason Mantzoukas, Danny Glover, and Dermot Mulroney. The cast is great but the directing and storyline is where my praising stops.

The idea of the story is behaving badly has never felt so good. There is nothing wrong with getting down and dirtier in funny, vulgar way. Efron plays Jason, a straight, clean cut man. He is a couple of weeks away from marrying his boss’s daughter. But everything changes when Jason’s talked into driving his foul-mouthed, free-living granddad named Dick Kelly, played by De Niro, to Florida for spring break. Jason is thrown into a series of frat parties, bar fights, and epic misdeeds on a road trip that surprisingly, eventually bonds the two men.

The Blu-ray has some awesome featurettes if you love the low-down vulgarity of this movie. They are called “The Filthy Truth: The Making of Dirty Grandpa,”Lessons in Seduction,”I Got Nothin’ to Hide: A Look at Daytona’s Most Vibrant Drug Dealer,” and “Daytona Heat.”  There is even a gag reel that I thought was pretty funny.

The situation of the story is nothing new where they are at Grandma’s funeral. Dick Kelly asks his grandson to drive him to Florida from Atlanta. He wavers because he is a responsible corporate lawyer and is getting married to Meridith, played by Hough, in a couple of weeks. He decides to go, and while n the road he discovers that his grandpa has a few vices. The movie is more humorous compared to other teen sex comedies of late but the gratuitous nudity is not necessary.

The Lionsgate sent me a promotional package of an evidence bag containing a Pill bottle filled with “Dick’s Little Helpers,” jelly beans, bikini top, condom, and a cocktail list. All this has to do with the storyline, making fun of what happens in the movie.

I know some of you will like the movie and some of you will not. That is because it is a bad-mannered movie with too much T. A.

Casual: Season One

comedy, drama, television, , ,

CAS1_DVD_OCard_3DSkewDirected by Jason Reitman, Valerie and her 16-year-old daughter Laura move in with Valerie’s brother, Alex, a bachelor for eternity and maestro of casual relationships. Together, they coach each other through the world of dating while raising her teenage daughter.

Casual: Season One is for the arrival for contemporary minds, and it received a Golden Globe nominee for Best Comedy Television Series. My copy came with Digital Plus, and I popped it into my player and behold.

I find out it is a Hulu original that follows Alex, played by Tommy Dewey, and his sister, Valerie, played by Michaela Watkins, as they manage to live with one another while attempting to keep Valerie’s teenage daughter, Laura, played by Tara Lynne Barr, on the right track. Several episodes prove that both Alex and Valerie are weak on the point of keeping her on track.

If is obvious Alex and Valerie hardly set a good example for Laura with a house full of one-night stands, bizarre encounters, and attempts to master the art of dating. The series is a drama as well as comedy with bittersweet notes and sugary laughter.

With Reitman being an Oscar-nominated director for Juno and Up in the Air, which both are worth watching, the series is high on a pedestal as a comedy that explores the funny and awkward dynamics of modern families and relationships.  With that, I am curious by whose standards are “funny and awkward dynamics.”

The DVD includes all 10 episodes plus the “Creating Casual” behind-the-scenes featurette.